Pedalling for Promise: Cycling the Globe for Education

Food. Newspapers. You can deliver a lot of things by bike - but what about an education?

That’s the simple mission behind Pedalling for Promise, but the way two U.K.-based women are going about that mission is anything but easy.

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A car zips along on Highway 12 just past Orofino. The driver honks and a hand appears, waving, out the window.

Waving at the two cyclists riding just a few feet away.

"We're cycling around the world,” Dawn Logan says.

Easier said than done. Claire Gover and Dawn Logan are on the last leg of a 10,000 mile journey.

"Just over 7,000 miles so far,” Dawn says. “We still have a very big country in America to cross."

They began their cycling circumnavigation last July in Ireland.

"We've already missed so much in the last year, you know, weddings, birthdays, christenings,” Claire says. Her 83-year-old “gran” even had a surgery while Claire was on the road.

That's why they have to keep their goal in mind.

Claire says, "Our ultimate aim is to build a school in Ghana, so we need to raise $35,000."

Raising money as they ride. Pedalling for Promise, the name of their effort, is based on Pencils of Promise, which aims to give children in countries like Guatemala and Laos a basic education.

"I think it's almost impossible to imagine what life would be like without being able to read your mail, without being able to count your change at super markets,” Dawn says.

Almost impossible, because Dawn and Claire have had to face those kinds of challenges on the road. Claire recounts long shopping trips trying to buy groceries. "In southeast Asia and Japan, just trying to read the labels on the food."

They’ve been in some of the same countries they're trying to improve. They've picked up little bits of language.

"Just being able to say ‘Please, thank you, water’ is pretty useful,” Dawn laughs. It also pays off when things don't go as planned, like injuries and bad weather.

Claire recounts their rainy trip from Turkey to Azerbaijan. "Soaking wet and we'd have to wrap ourselves in towels and get a hair dryer on our feet because we were so cold."

While the sights have been amazing, and an admirable end goal pushing them along, it's the people they've met along the way that are really making this the journey of a lifetime.

"It's really been life-changing,” Dawn says.

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Want to learn more about Pedalling for Promise or donate to the cause?